Could throttle cable be the culprit?

[TN-boater]

CDK,gonzo, tunnels,
let me make sure I understand this correctly. I did make contact from the ylw/rd to the rd/purp wires on the slave solenoid and it engaged my starter thus trying to turn engine. If this happened then my slave solenoid is ok, correct? Does this mean that the problem might lie in the shifter or the ignition switch?

[CDK]

The yel/red goes to the wiring harness plug, so the problem must be between that and the key switch. Could be damaged wiring or a corroded contact, if you have a Quicksilver control unit my bets are on the dubious black 25 cents micro-switch in the shifter mechanism. You could replace that with a real Honeywell or Cherry micro-switch or just bridge it with a piece of wire. In that case you need to remember to put the lever in neutral before you turn the key.

[TN-boater]

Gents, hope all of you are well. Good news. A $10 lawn mower part fixed the problem. I removed the slave solenoid and took it down to the parts store and the parts man said that it would be five business days and $36 to replace that particular solenoid. After a minute in thought he then said to me, "let's try a lawn mower solenoid, that damn thing won't know you're putting it on a boat." Whatta ya' know, it did the trick! Thanks for all of your help. I'll be putting my boat in the water in a couple of days. If tendencies hold true, then I'll be back on here asking for more of your help. Again, thanks fellas!